U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik speaks with the Enterprise editorial board Oct. 5, 2018, at the newspaper’s Saranac Lake office. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik and Gov. Andrew Cuomo jabbed at each other Thursday amid a discussion about whether summer camps will be able to open this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But their argument, conducted through statements at their regularly scheduled press conferences with New York’s media, is only slightly related to the issue of summer camps.

Cuomo turned the discussion topic into one about federal dollars for New York, which Stefanik described as “political.” There is still no clear guidance for summer camps. In the Adirondacks, many camps are cautiously still planning on opening, but wondering about the possibility of empty campsites this year.

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Letter for camps

Gov. Andrew Cuomo takes part in a press conference Friday. (Provided photo — Darren McGee, governor's office)

On Wednesday Stefanik sent a letter, co-signed by several state and county representatives, requesting state guidance on summer camp operations for local governments.

“It is our understanding that to date, no official guidance has been provided and that many summer camps begin their preparations and early operations in May,” the letter reads.

“The North Country is home to many summer camps that attract families from afar and serve as economic drivers for our communities,” Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, wrote in a press release.

“In the North Country, summer camps are an important part of the visitor experience and the regional economy,” state Assemblyman Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, wrote in a press release. “Certainly, we must be cautious from a public health standpoint while also acknowledging the importance these camps have to our local businesses.”

“In this era of risk of viral spread, it is immensely important that we properly manage whether we can safely open and safely operate these camps,” Essex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Shaun Gillilland, R-Willsboro, wrote in a press release. “Children come from across the state, the country, and the globe to the Adirondacks for this experience, and it is imperative that guidance be clearly and expertly promulgated; the ramifications of a COVID-19 vector emanating from a youth camp situation would be devastating for the whole Adirondack summer camp reputation and tradition.”

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Cuomo’s response

At Cuomo’s daily press meeting Thursday, CBS 6’s Anne McCloy asked about the letter and mentioned that summer camps can be vital for parents who are still working.

Cuomo addressed his answer to “Stefanik and all our great Washington representatives.” He said he would like to offer things like child care for essential workers or rental assistance for those who cant afford it, or summer camps.

“You know what it takes?” Cuomo said. “Money.”

He said the coronavirus funding bills Congress has passed has given the state “zero, zilch, nada” to do any of these things.

“So when one of them (New York’s congressional representatives) says, ‘I have a great idea; why don’t we do this for every person?’ I would suggest, maybe you say to them, ‘Oh, are you providing any funding to do that? Because the state has a $13 billion deficit,'” Cuomo said. “They’ve provided us nothing. Nothing for police, nothing for firefighters, nothing for schools, nothing for teachers, nothing for rental assistance, nothing for the massive government operation we have to put together with all of these things.

“You can do a lot of good things,” he added. “But you need funding.”

He then asked Robert Mujica, the state budget director, about summer camps. Mujica said he is looking at camps reopening on a “limited basis” as the state begins its phased recovery process.

On Friday, Cuomo said at the end of his daily press briefing that a decision on the reopening of summer camps would be paired with regional decisions to reopen.

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Stefanik: “inexcusable attack”

Several hours later, Stefanik started her press call with a strong response to Cuomo’s response to her letter, calling it an “inexcusable attack.”

“For someone who lectures New Yorkers day in and day out about not engaging in political attacks, the governor needs to take his own advice,” Stefanik said. “Rather than responding to a basic question about summer camps’ public health guidance, he instead chose to attack me by name.

“The governor absolutely failed and was embarrassing in his political attack,” Stefanik said. “It is sad that something as apolitical as summer camp triggered a political attack from the governor.”

Stefanik said Cuomo’s statements about the federal government not providing enough monetary assistance to the state were “flat-out wrong.” She said the state received $7.5 billion through the CARES Act. According to the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally-conservative think tank and government watchdog group, around $5.5 billion of that funding will go to state government.

Cuomo’s Senior Advisor Richard Azzopardi told the Enterprise in an email that Cuomo was speaking only about a lack of federal money for things like summer camps, schools and rental assistance.

“Of course, that’s exactly what we’re talking about,” Azzopardi wrote. “Been talking about it for weeks.”